Friday, January 14, 2011

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As people live longer with the help of technological advances, end-of-life care will take an increasingly large bite out of the nation's healthcare budget -- unless we change the way we treat dying patients and their families, according to a panel Thursday at the University of Miami's Global Business Forum. Three medical doctors, a CEO and a professor of religious studies debated the economics and ethics of end-of-life decisions, warning that the care model historically used by the medical establishment needs to be improved in a world where there are more elderly people with more chronic illnesses. The emphasis, they agreed, should be on a team-oriented holistic approach tailored to the patient and his or her last wishes. Full Article